Beautiful
by samtana
Summary: Katara finds she's ashamed to face Aang after what happened. Kataang.


I don't own Avatar. I just like pretending I do.

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Beautiful

Zuko watched the impossible flying bison circle towards the royal palace, touching down across from him. Azula writhed from the post she was tied to, unable to spit fire from her gagged mouth. Scorch marks still smoked all over the courtyard as a reminder of the epic agni kai that just ended. Zukko let go of his burnt elbow in order to bow respectfully to the avatar as he dismounted from the bison, his robes tattered from an epic battle of his own. Aang returned the bow, then ran up to hug his firebending teacher, which the surprised Zukko accepted graciously as Toph and Sukki helped Sokka off the giant beast.

"So you did it," said Zuko.

"So did you," smiled Aang, looking into the frenzied eyes of Zuko's sister.

"You should have seen him, Zuko!" exclaimed Sokka.

"He was even able to beat him without killing him," said Sukki.

"How did you manage that?" asked Zuko suspiciously.

"I took his bending away."

Zuko's eyebrows shot up. "I didn't know you could do that." He glanced over to his struggling sister. "Do you think you can do it to her, too?"

Aang grinned.

Azula fell to the floor and Zuko undid her gag.

"Wow," said Toph. "That was warm."

"And bright," said Sokka, then, realizing he was talking to a blind girl, added, "Just so you know."

Aang opened his eyes and sat down, breathing slowly. "I think that's enough for today," he said. He looked around the courtyard. "Where's Katara? "

Zuko closed his eyes. His hands fiddled behind his back where Aang couldn't see them.

"Listen, Aang," he began nervously. "Something happened while you were gone."

Aang didn't let him continue. He was on his feet and in Zuko's face. "Something happened to Katara?" he demanded. "Where is she? Is she okay?"

"She said she couldn't bear to face you," said Zuko timidly, leaning back to avoid Aang's wrath.

Aang's expression was pained. "Please," he pleaded with Zuko. "Please take me to her."

Zuko couldn't say no. He led the exasperated Aang to the royal infirmary, pausing in front of a particularly ornately decorated cloth flap. Aang made to march right in but Zuko grabbed him by the shoulder.

"I'm warning you," he whispered into Aang's ear. "She'll be very unhappy to see you."

Aang nodded solemnly and muttered a quick thank you before pushing himself into Katara's room.

Katara was lying on her side on a large bed in the center of a small room, facing away from Aang. Her blue outfit was torn in multiple places, her hair scraggly and unkempt. She was curled up in a ball, the most pathetic she had ever looked in Aang's presence.

"Katara?" he asked.

She started to cry.

"Katara, what's wrong?"

Her body was shaking all over and Aang could hear the pain in her labored breathing. He took a step towards her.

"Please don't come any closer," she croaked in a voice that sounded nothing like Katara. It sounded like the voice of a ninety-year-old woman, not the soothing young woman it belonged to.

"Katara, talk to me," whispered Aang, stopping in his tracks.

Katara did not talk to him.

"The war's over," he said, trying to sound cheerful. "Zukko's going to be the new Fire Lord and the fighting will stop."

Katara's body only shook more, her sniffles increasing in volume, the sobs more audible. Aang didn't know what to do, what was going on, or how much Zukko knew. He hung his head.

"I'm happy to see you," he said quietly, sheepishly, sincerely.

"Please," moaned Katara miserably. "Go."

"I don't want to," he said stubbornly. "I want to stay with you."

"Go."

Aang, looking for something that would stop her tears, said redundantly, "I love you, Katara."

"Go!" she screamed, turning to face him for the first time, making everything clear. The entire right side of her face had been completely burned off: hair, eyebrows, skin, and all, a burn mark extending from the top of her head to her right shoulder. Blood oozed from bumps on the charred skin, flowing down her neck and staining her necklace. Aang could see the pain as she moved, the skin hanging awkwardly from her skeleton, flapping about with each subtle movement of her head.

Aang could do nothing but stare at the once beautiful Water Tribe girl. She shoved her head into the pillow, throwing sobs out her burnt throat. Aang felt his eyes start to grow hot with misery and backed slowly out of the room.

Zuko watched Aang sit outside the threshold and weep to himself.

"I shouldn't have let this happen," said Aang as strongly as he could. "I should have been here to protect her."

"I should have protected her," said Zuko grimly. "Azula caught me off guard. There was nothing I could do."

"You could have put some bandages on her or something," snapped Aang.

"She wouldn't let me," said Zuko quietly. "She said it didn't matter. I wanted to help her. I knew how painful it was for her."

Aang looked into Zuko's right eye. He knew how painful it was for her.

Zuko looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "I didn't know being beautiful was so important to her."

"It's not important to me," said Aang dismally.

"It's not?" asked Zuko, wondering how much of this conversation Katara could hear.

"Well," considered Aang, for a moment. "No, it's not. She's always been nice to look at, but that's not what made me, well, made me…"

"Fall in love with her," finished Zuko.

"Yes," said Aang sadly. "Fall in love with her." He turned to Zuko. "Did she really think I'd stop loving her just because she's not beautiful anymore?"

Zuko glanced at the cloth that separated them and Katara, then looked at Aang, watching his eyes leak over his cheeks. It was beautiful.

"She said you'd hate her," he said.

"But I don't hate her!" proclaimed Aang, rising to his feet. "I love her more than anything! I don't care if she's got a burn mark on her face! I didn't fall in love with her face; I fell in love with her!"

Zuko couldn't help but smile at the irony.

Aang started to march back to Appa. "I'm going to get some bandages," he said, wiping his tears with his forearm. He made an air scooter and sped off.

Zuko watched him go, then pushed back the barrier into Katara's room, poking his head inside. She was lying on her back now, the boundaries of the burn marks visible on the bridge of her nose. Zuko closed the flap as Katara displayed the biggest smile in the world, her tears flowing from a new source onto the sheets below.

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After writing "The Feast" I needed to write something more touching.

I have some issues with how pretty Katara is, to be blunt. It's just too convenient. I don't think someone with her lifestyle would be as attractive as she is. So I made her uglier. And, because I am such a big Kataang fan, love wins out in the end.

The ending is ambiguous on purpose. I think Katara heard the conversation and was overjoyed that Aang still loves her. It doesn't have to be seen that way, but, as previously stated, I like Kataang. So, yeah.


End file.
